Project Description
COA is proud to be nominated by the Milwaukee Association for Neighborhood Development Innovation’s (MANDI) prestigious BMO Harris Cornerstone Award for its efforts in the transformation of the Amani neighborhood. To add to the excitement, the Milwaukee County Parks Department and partners have been nominated for the Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award for opening the new Moody Park, adjacent to COA’s Goldin Center. COA is also in the running for the MANDI’s people’s choice award; the nominee with most votes receives a $1,000 grant! There will be more information about that, and how you can help support COA by voting, as the time to vote draws closer.
What COA Does in the Amani Neighborhood
110 years of experience in providing holistic programming make COA exceptional in serving the Milwaukee community. COA provides programs and services that serve not only children and youth, but the entire family. COA is connected and committed to the Milwaukee community; here are a just a few examples of what’s been going on:
COA’s main goal is to provide resources for families that need them most. As part of efforts to help transform the 53206 community from within, the Goldin Center was established 2005 at the corner of 24th St and Burleigh. The center offers many activities throughout the year; for example, the Goldin Summer Day Camps in Amani and Riverwest welcomed an overall attendance of 6242 across 44 days of programming from June 22, 2015 – August 21, 2015. Youth and families were engaged in various events such as family picnics, an Art Showcase at Kadish Park, trips to Brewers games, Bay Beach, the Milwaukee Public Art Museum, David Shultz Aquatic Center, and even an overnight camping trip to Camp Helen Brachman. Goldin Summer Day Camp programming partnerships further expanded the offerings, including Milwaukee Public Theater and SHARP Literacy programming, allowing youth to explore their neighborhoods from an artistic perspective while also building valuable social and cognitive skills. The process of transforming a bankrupt facility into a locus for community engagement, proudly serving over 750 youth each year, is an embodiment of COA’s ground-up, holistic approach.
Community members enjoying the splash pad at the new Moody Park, opened as part of a partnership between the Milwaukee County Parks Department and COA!
This year, COA opened the Burke Early Childhood Education Center, adjacent to the Goldin Center which already houses the pediatric and Family Care Clinic which has been built and operated in partnership with Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for the last three years. COA is proud to be providing quality health care in a place where none previously existed. The cross-connections represented by community members engaged by these resources bolster overall attendance at the COA Goldin Center’s neighborhood gatherings, exposing new families into other critical, educational programming for youth and adults alike.
COA also opened the new Moody Park, in partnership with the Milwaukee County Parks and with substantial support from local residents, following the philosophy that neighborhood development starts with a rounded, holistic approach driven by the community itself. This beautiful new green space is home to a splash pad, gardens basketball courts, and a community building that will host events like Amani United meetings and more.
COA has big plans for community summer fun! At each step along the way, COA involves the community and relies on groups like the Amani Neighborhood Association and Friends of Moody Park to help plan, promote and coordinate events and programs.
Thank You
Serving children, strengthening families, and building community for 110 years, COA is proud to be part of Milwaukee. Through your support, there is so much that has, can, and will be accomplished in the next century. Thank you.